In this months issue...

CENTRAL ALONZO

Sugar and passengers on the Hershey Railroad in Cuba - Andy Gautrey continues his fascination with electrified interurban lines with a new HO layout.

KEANE'S COVE

Debbie McMillan introduces her latest project, a 5-3-3 'Inglenook' switching puzzle in HO.

VERNIERS-MEYRIN

A childhood dream come true - Yann Mon baron describes a large French-Swiss HO layout created by Claude Court.

PLUS!

 

RAILWAY OF THE MONTH

Ashdan Junction
A passion for the Western diesel-hydraulics and memories of the 1970s BR blue era led Barry Platt to create this fictional West Midlands station, with an emphasis on entertaining the public at exhibitions..

PROJECT OF THE MONTH
A Peppercorn K1 in N
With no ready-to-run model of these Eastern Region Moguls in 2mm scale, Ian Cairns set about creating his own from a 3D-printed body and proprietary locomotive and tender chassis.

Adapted from the existing PECO Setrack Curved turnout, this brand new development allows us to add a really useful component into the classic Streamline OO/HO Code 100 range. At last we are able to offer a tighter radius turnout for Streamline users, something that has been requested on and off for a long time. 

Curved turnouts are fantastic space savers and their benefits are often overlooked. Given that so many layouts are built to be located in small spaces the use of curved turnouts ought to be greater than it is, so these new Streamline turnouts may well address many concerns that modellers have when planning their model railway.

This turnout has been derived from the existing Setrack curved turnout the geometry departs from the common frog angle adopted by the Streamline system (which is based on a common frog angle of 12 degrees) - this turnout has a 11.25 degree frog angle and the inner radius is just 438mm, or 17.2 inches. This should not be seen as any disadvantage and the real benefit is that they will allow much tighter access where it is needed, such as in restricted places where a layout has to loop around into a fiddle yard, for example.  The standard Streamline curved turnout has a minimum inside radius of 762mm, 30 inches, so the difference is quite clear to see.

Adapted from the existing PECO Setrack Curved turnout, this brand new development allows us to add a really useful component into the classic Streamline OO/HO Code 100 range. At last we are able to offer a tighter radius turnout for Streamline users, something that has been requested on and off for a long time. 

Curved turnouts are fantastic space savers and their benefits are often overlooked. Given that so many layouts are built to be located in small spaces the use of curved turnouts ought to be greater than it is, so these new Streamline turnouts may well address many concerns that modellers have when planning their model railway.

This turnout has been derived from the existing Setrack curved turnout the geometry departs from the common frog angle adopted by the Streamline system (which is based on a common frog angle of 12 degrees) - this turnout has a 11.25 degree frog angle and the inner radius is just 438mm, or 17.2 inches. This should not be seen as any disadvantage and the real benefit is that they will allow much tighter access where it is needed, such as in restricted places where a layout has to loop around into a fiddle yard, for example.  The standard Streamline curved turnout has a minimum inside radius of 762mm, 30 inches, so the difference is quite clear to see.

Railway companies all had a stock of their own vehicles for carrying goods and merchandise around their network, and also onto other companies' routes as and when required. These were integrated into British Railways at Nationalisation; some of them to be once more re liveried under sectorisation as the network was prepared to be returned to private ownership. All Peco wagons feature free running wheels in pin point axles. The ELC coupling, whilst compatible with the standard N gauge couplings, keeps a realistic distance between the vehicles and enables the PL-25 electro magnetic decoupler to be used for remote uncoupling.

 

MAKING TRACKS III - MILTON KEYNES CENTRAL

Pete Waterman and his forthcoming event
Pete Waterman details how he and the Railnuts team have recreated the present-day Milton Keynes Central station for the the forthcoming Making Tracks III event at Chester Cathedral.

RAILWAY OF THE MONTH
The North Bucks Narrow Gauge Railway
Alan Rega takes us on a journey around his live steam, 16mm narrrow gauge garden railway, which has been nearly 30 years in the making.

The next new livery for the L&B Goods Brake Van is this plain grey unlettered models, aimed at the freelance modeller.

Removing all references to the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway but leaving behind the useful detail such as tare weight and builder plate will please those OO-9 modellers who want to create their own unique and individual railway in miniature.

 

ASHBURTON

What happened to the classic 4mm layout?
Chris Lamacraft's EM gauge model of this classic Great Western branch line terminus was retired from the exhibition circuit 25 years ago - but it has now found a home on the former Ashburton branch itself. 

RAILWAY OF THE MONTH
Bournemouth Central
After 50 years away from railway modelling, David Pinch revived his childhood interest in the hobby and set out to create this impressive 00 gauge reinterpretation of a classic seaside town station. 

Our NEW Ffestiniog Railway "Bug Box" coaches, wearing the plain red livery from the preservation era of the 1970s & 1980s. Plain they may be, but when you look closely, you will notice that actually there is plenty of very fine detail, including the FR emblem, door handles and running numbers.

Our NEW Ffestiniog Railway "Bug Box" coaches, wearing the plain red livery from the preservation era of the 1970s & 1980s. Plain they may be, but when you look closely, you will notice that actually there is plenty of very fine detail, including the FR emblem, door handles and running numbers.

Our NEW Ffestiniog Railway "Bug Box" coaches, wearing the plain red livery from the preservation era of the 1970s & 1980s. Plain they may be, but when you look closely, you will notice that actually there is plenty of very fine detail, including the FR emblem, door handles and running numbers.

Our NEW Ffestiniog Railway "Bug Box" coaches, wearing the plain red livery from the preservation era of the 1970s & 1980s. Plain they may be, but when you look closely, you will notice that actually there is plenty of very fine detail, including the FR emblem, door handles and running numbers.

This 5-Plank Teign Valley granite wagon of Bovey Tracey is produced from our all-new tooling, featuring a red body with white lettering, shaded black, and black ironwork. Running on our new metal-tyred wheels these wagons, like the others, are very free-wheeling and a colourful addition to the expanding range. 

 

The NEW PECO Product & Modelling Guide is out now and bigger than ever! It is not only a comprehensive guide to a huge range of PECO products and other brands, but also a modelling reference guide, to help with so many modelling techniques. The guide features all the products currently available from PECO, Ratio, Wills, Modelscene, Parkside & Tracksetta and is now bigger than ever! Explanations and helpful hints and tips on scales and gauges, rail codes, frog descriptions, standard and narrow gauge railways, baseboard building, track-laying, wiring using PECO turnout motors and Smartswitch servos, to operate turnouts and semaphore signals, kit building and painting, and scenic work are all included in this inspirational guide.

All PECO Publications now available as digital downloads on tablets and mobile devices through their respective App Stores.

Download on the App Store or get it on Google Play.

Monkton Combe, once an intermediate station on the long-closed Camerton branch near Bath, was thrust into the limelight in 1952 when it was chosen to be the location for the filming of the famous Ealing Comedy "The TitfieldThunderbolt". 

Private owner wagons abounded prior to nationalisation, they would often be seen far from their base as they were sent to collect raw materials and supplies such as coal, and deliver finished goods. All Peco wagons feature free running wheels in pin point axles. The ELC coupling, whilst compatible with the standard N gauge couplings, keeps a realistic distance between vehicles and enables the PL-25 electro magnetic decoupler to be used for remote uncoupling. This model is produced from new tooling and features, amongst many things, a much finer and thinner body moulding, including interior detail, with accurately-placed brake rigging and brake shoes (in line with wheels), fine printing detail and metal-tyred wheels.

Based on the Lynton & Barnstaple box van, this partially fictitious livery will chime well with fans of the Ffestiniog Railway and the wider OO-9 community. Located in Porthmadog, centre of the universe as far as Welsh narrow gauge enthusiasts are concerned, beer from the Purple Moose Brewery is popular with many visitors to the area and is the inspiration for this unique little wagon. Why not visit their website and learn for yourselves the origins of this local brewer and the tale behind the very unusual name! PURPLE MOOSE BREWERY

Celebrating the coronation of His Majesty the King on 6th May. We have produced a limited edition model in a coronation livery for both models, incorporating the official logo for this historical event.

The curiously-named "Bug Box" 4-wheel coaches were the first passenger carrying coaches built for the Ffestiniog Railway. Dating from 1864 to 1867 they were built by Brown, Marshall & company. The term "Bug Box is a more recent term given to them, possibly in the 1950s, and originally they were referred to as "Small Birmingham's".

NEW limited edition N gauge iron ore tippler, celebrating the coronation of His Majesty the King on 6th May. Our designers have come up with a very eye-catching livery for both models, incorporating the official logo for this historical event. All PECO wagons feature free running wheels in pin point axles. The ELC coupling, whilst compatible with the standard N gauge couplings, keeps a realistic distance between the vehicles and enables the PL-25 electro magnetic decoupler to be used for remote uncoupling.

ISSUE DATE - APRIL 2023

RAILWAY OF THE MONTH

ALP GRÜN

A variation on a theme - Greg Coggins describes his new RhaÃàtische Bahn HOm layout, inspired by but not an exact model of this well-known location.

HANNOVER FALLS

Ian Arkley introduces his compact American Z layout, just 920mm by 700mm, intended to fit in an alcove so he could simply watch the trains go by.

PLUS

LATEST REVIEWS
BOOK and VIDEO REVIEWS
NEWS

CORONATION SPECIAL!

 RAILWAY OF THE MONTH
Camden & Kilsby
Well-known railway photographer John Cooper-Smith takes us on a tour of his mammoth West Coast Main Line layout in EM gauge, incorporating Camden locomotive shed and several other real locations.

PLAN OF THE MONTH
An industrial branch line
Graham Nicholas suggest a layout combining open country and an industrial site, suitable for portraying areas such as the South Wales valleys or the North East coalfields.